New Plymouth Stage 3 Trainee, Stevie Heyes has won the Titleist/Footjoy Trainee Championships by four shots over Te Arai Links Trainee Ben Croft and Waimari Beach Trainee Jordan Pruden at Pegasus Golf Club.
Round One play saw Jordan Pruden take a two shot lead in cold and blustery conditions where players were reporting back a three club wind making distance control tough and keeping the ball in play. His Even par 72 started off hot, firing of three birdies in the front 9 to take advantage however the wind switched from an Easterly to a Southerly which saw the entire field giving up shots. Jordan only had two bad holes on the back nine with two double bogeys after taking penalty drops both times making a birdie on the par 5 16th to finish even par. Chasing Jordan however were Stevie Heyes, Dell Bain from The Sweetspot Indoor Golf and Ryan Maxwell from Golf360 in Tauranga who all shot +2 74 after Round 1.
Day two saw cooler but calmer conditions, which saw scoring improve dramatically. Round one leader, Jordan Pruden dropped back to the field early however with two early bogeys one the 1st and 3rd Hole, while the field behind the leading group were making birdies. Ben Croft started off hot with a birdie and an eagle after five holes, but could no longer get the ball to drop and proceeded to par the next 13 Holes for a bogey-free 69 to finish second. Other players such as Institute of Golf Trainee, Kunaal Singh made an early eagle on the 3rd Hole to threaten the leaders, and Otago/Southland Golf Trainee, Byron Willis was charging up the leaderboard after hitting his first shot of the day Out of Bounds to make Double Bogey, bounced back with five birdies on the front nine to be three under for the day. However late bogeys for Kunaal and Byron would see them both fall out of contention.
Ultimately the day ended up being a shootout between Stevie and Jordan, with both players neck and neck for most of the day up until the 16th hole, where Stevie was leading by one we saw a four shot swing on the Par 5, with Stevie making birdie and Jordan making a Triple Bogey after losing two golf balls in the penalty area.
Stevie finished bogey free in his final round, with four birdies to shoot 68 for a -2 142 total around Pegasus Golf Club and winning his first Trainee Championships, after the heartbreak of coming 2nd in 2022. The win caps off a successful year in events for Stevie, who also sits 19th on the NZPGA Order of Merit, Highlighted by Top 5 finishes in two Charles Tour events. Stevie will also receive exemptions to the Hills Invitational Pro Am on the 16th & 17th of December as well as the 2024 NZPGA Championship.